TheNobleFarmer
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You Cultivate, I Farm - Chapter 60
🕑 Added 2023-12-27 17:32:16 +0000 UTCChapter 60: Transformation of the Spirit Gnawing Insect
The reputation of the Wanbao Tower in the marketplace was impeccable. Lu Xuan readily followed the advice of the elegant young woman, handing over three spirit stones as a deposit and leaving his identity information.
As per the girl's instructions, within approximately five to ten days, the blood of snake-like demon beasts would be transported from other branches of Wanbao Tower. Lu Xuan could retrieve the goods himself, and based on the quality of the demon beast blood delivered, he would pay the remaining spirit stones.
Subsequently, with the Mist Veil Formation Plate in hand, he returned to the courtyard.
Upon his return, the Grass Puppet was still in the corner of the spiritual field. From the large lump of gray grass on its head extended several strands of gray-black withered grass, slowly and meticulously weaving its limbs.
After nearly half a day, it had only woven two sections of arms; the elbows were not yet visible.
Sensing Lu Xuan's presence, the movements of the gray grass weaving slightly paused. It retracted into the lump on its head and, with a slight movement, seemed to be welcoming Lu Xuan.
Back in the house, Lu Xuan took out the Mist Veil Formation Plate.
The plate, in a gray-white hue, was adorned with numerous mysterious and cryptic runes. Faint mist seeped out from the sides of the runes, lingering in the air above the plate, enduring and unyielding.
"A second-grade defensive formation, with a hint of illusionary abilities. Even high-level Qi cultivators would find it challenging to break through."
The formation outside the courtyard was left by the Ya Family and was considered a hidden benefit for Lu Xuan, having rented the spiritual field at considerable expense. It was of the first grade, with a defense that could only be deemed ordinary.
Now, with the upgraded second-grade Mist Veil Formation, Lu Xuan felt more at ease, no longer worried about others coveting the spiritual plants inside the field.
His spiritual energy infiltrated the formation plate, following a certain pattern, gradually activating the plate.
Numerous runes on the plate lit up, and a faint mist, akin to a gentle breeze, dispersed in all directions.
Following this, a semi-transparent spiritual shield appeared outside the courtyard. Lu Xuan continuously adjusted it to cover the entire compound perfectly.
Simultaneously, a faint mist emerged from somewhere, swiftly enveloping the entire courtyard. If one were to look from above the spiritual field, they would only see a thick white mist, obscuring both the spiritual plants and the house. Even spiritual senses infiltrating it would get lost in the dense fog.
Lu Xuan continuously manipulated the runic patterns, causing the external mist to move and gather, as though an invisible hand was orchestrating it.
"Alright, the second-grade formation is set up. As for the Ya Family's first-grade formation, I'll return it to them when I find the time."
Lu Xuan stood in the spiritual field, gazing outside the courtyard.
Under his control, the spiritual field remained unaffected by the mist.
With the formation in place, Lu Xuan rested for a moment before examining the current state of the spiritual plants.
Focusing his mind on the plants, he quickly understood their immediate conditions.
"If there's a demand, I'll perform the Spirit Rain Technique and Wood Growth Technique to meet every subtle need of the plants."
"The roots feel a bit heavy, not the kind of heaviness from added roots, more like something vigorously sucking their essence."
Passing through the Blood Jade Ginseng area, Lu Xuan suddenly sensed that one of the Blood Jade Ginsengs was behaving oddly.
Even though it was maintaining a safe distance from the other Blood Jade Ginsengs, it exhibited peculiar behavior.
Based on its immediate state, he extended his spiritual sense, infiltrating the spiritual soil.
Through his spiritual perception, Lu Xuan discovered something faintly black adhering to the root of the Blood Jade Ginseng buried deep in the soil.
It seemed like a lump growing on the root, but upon closer inspection, he realized it comprised hundreds of tiny insects.
Numerous insects lay buried deep in the soil, motionless, siphoning the life force of the Blood Jade Ginseng. If not for the slightly abnormal immediate state, detecting them would have been nearly impossible until they burrowed deep into the root.
"It seems to be the Spirit Gnawing Insect. I just don't know when they infiltrated the spiritual field to harm my plants."
Relaxing slightly, Lu Xuan recalled reading about this particular aberrant insect in a book titled "Common Harmful Demonic Insects and Their Solutions."
Operating within the soil, these insects enjoyed biting and devouring the roots of spiritual plants. Before their biting stage, it was generally challenging to detect their traces.
The way the Spirit Gnawing Insects entered the spiritual field remained unknown. After all, the previous formation was only of the first grade, with limited protection and not consistently active throughout the day. Additionally, these insects were tiny, making it extremely difficult to entirely block them. Moreover, acting within the soil made them even more elusive.
Of course, it was also possible that some Spirit Gnawing Insect eggs had been left deep in the soil. Upon hatching, they sought out the roots of the Blood Jade Ginseng.
Although Lu Xuan occasionally cleared the insect eggs from the spiritual field, it was challenging to guarantee complete eradication.
He circulated his spiritual power, employing the Earth Attraction Technique.
Although the experience package obtained from the White Light Ball for the Earth Attraction Technique wasn't as much as the Golden Sword Technique, Lu Xuan had achieved a certain level of mastery in this technique.
Under his precise control, the spiritual soil quietly shifted, without causing any disturbance to the Spirit Gnawing Insects attached to the root of the Blood Jade Ginseng.
Only when that section of the root was exposed to light did they react.
The faint black lump instantly split into hundreds of tiny black insects, resembling a black mist and emitting sharp squeals, rushing toward Lu Xuan from all directions.
With a flick of his left hand, a slender red needle transformed into an illusion, piercing into the Spirit Gnawing Insects, dancing freely within the swarm and leaving behind trails of red thread-like shadows.
After a few moments, the red needle flew back to Lu Xuan, embedding itself in hundreds of tiny Spirit Gnawing Insects from its tip downwards.
"These Spirit Gnawing Insects seem unusual. They behave significantly differently from what's recorded in the book."
"Unlike normal Spirit Gnawing Insects that have a relatively weak aggressive nature, the ones in the spiritual field can form a collective black mist and attack, distinctly different from the regular ones."
Lu Xuan observed the red needle in his hand, activating his spiritual power. The slender needle's body was enveloped in deep red flames, instantly incinerating the numerous tiny Spirit Gnawing Insects it had pierced into black ash.
"Based on their behavior, they shouldn't be the Spirit Gnawing Insect eggs left in the soil earlier; otherwise, I would have noticed their intentions to harm the plants long ago."
"So, it's only possible that they invaded from the outside, but I'm unsure what influenced them to undergo such drastic changes."
Considering the recent appearance of aberrant cultivators in the marketplace, Lu Xuan felt that something was amiss.
"What did the Wang Family
provoke in that new hidden realm, and what did they obtain from it, causing such insecurity throughout the marketplace?"
Lu Xuan immediately recalled the scene when the Wang Family cultivators returned with many freelance cultivators. Listening to the discussions around him, it seemed they had seized some treasure while exploring the new hidden realm, inadvertently attracting malevolent forces that disrupted the peace of the marketplace.
"I hope it's just my imagination."
With a heavy heart, Lu Xuan meticulously searched through every spiritual plant in the field, thankfully without finding traces of any more transformed Spirit Gnawing Insects.
In a world so fraught with dangers for cultivators, all Lu Xuan wanted was to quietly nurture his spiritual plants. However, even this seemingly modest desire proved challenging to fulfill.
Gazing at the Second Grade Sword Grass and the Dark Marrow Fungus that had been planted in the spiritual field for almost half a year, Lu Xuan eagerly hoped for their swift maturation.
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